IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/demogr/v52y2015i4p1321-1343.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

For Better or Worse: The Health Implications of Marriage Separation Due to Migration in Rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Feinian Chen
  • Hui Liu
  • Kriti Vikram
  • Yu Guo

Abstract

Massive rural-to-urban migration in China has led to spatial separation of millions of married couples. In this article, we examine the question of whether the well-documented health benefits of marriage extend to left-behind individuals in rural China who are spatially separated from their spouses. Using longitudinal data that span 16 years (China Health and Nutrition Survey 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006), we compare the self-reported health trajectories of adults across different marital statuses while taking into account the physical location of their spouses. Our results suggest a clear health disadvantage of married individuals whose spouses are absent compared with those whose spouses are living in the same household. Further, longer spousal absence is more harmful to an individual’s health. Finally, spousal absence and longer physical separation from their spouses induce stronger health deficits for married men than for married women, suggesting that a gendered process is at work. Copyright Population Association of America 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Feinian Chen & Hui Liu & Kriti Vikram & Yu Guo, 2015. "For Better or Worse: The Health Implications of Marriage Separation Due to Migration in Rural China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1321-1343, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:52:y:2015:i:4:p:1321-1343
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-015-0399-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13524-015-0399-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13524-015-0399-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Lydia W. & Zhang, Jiaan & Liang, Jersey, 2009. "Health among the oldest-old in China: Which living arrangements make a difference?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 220-227, January.
    2. C Cindy Fan & Mingjie Sun & Siqi Zheng, 2011. "Migration and Split Households: A Comparison of Sole, Couple, and Family Migrants in Beijing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(9), pages 2164-2185, September.
    3. Zai Liang & Zhongdong Ma, 2004. "China's Floating Population: New Evidence from the 2000 Census," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 467-488, September.
    4. Zeng Yi & James W. Vaupel & Xiao Zhenyu & Zhang Chunyuan & Liu Yuzhi, 2002. "Sociodemographic and Health Profiles of the Oldest Old In China," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 251-273, June.
    5. Anke C. Zimmermann & Richard A. Easterlin, 2006. "Happily Ever After? Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Happiness in Germany," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 511-528, September.
    6. Lu, Yao, 2010. "Rural-urban migration and health: Evidence from longitudinal data in Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 412-419, February.
    7. Mariano Sana & Douglas S. Massey, 2005. "Household Composition, Family Migration, and Community Context: Migrant Remittances in Four Countries," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(2), pages 509-528, June.
    8. Barbara Entwisle & Feinian Chen, 2002. "Work Patterns Following a Birth in Urban and Rural China: A Longitudinal Study," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 99-119, June.
    9. Idler, E.L. & Angel, R.J., 1990. "Self-rated health and mortality in the NHANES-I epidemiologic follow-up study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 80(4), pages 446-452.
    10. Umberson, Debra, 1992. "Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 907-917, April.
    11. Kim Korinek & Zachary Zimmer & Danan Gu, 2011. "Transitions in Marital Status and Functional Health and Patterns of Intergenerational Coresidence Among China's Elderly Population," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 66(2), pages 260-270.
    12. Lu, Yao, 2012. "Household migration, social support, and psychosocial health: The perspective from migrant-sending areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 135-142.
    13. C. Cindy Fan, 2003. "Rural‐urban migration and gender division of labor in transitional China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 24-47, March.
    14. Schmeer, Kammi, 2009. "Father absence due to migration and child illness in rural Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1281-1286, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xing Ji & Jia Chen & Hongxiao Zhang, 2023. "Agricultural Specialization Threatens Sustainable Mental Health: Implications for Chinese Farmers’ Subjective Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-22, October.
    2. Solina Richter & Kimberly Jarvis & Vida N. Yakong & Patience Aniteye & Helen Vallianatos, 2020. "Self-Directed Female Migration in Ghana: Health and Wellness of Elderly Family Caregivers Left Behind. An Ethnographic Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-9, November.
    3. Li-Chung Hu, 2021. "Marital Status and Self-Rated Health in China: A Longitudinal Analysis," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 499-531, June.
    4. Liping Liao & Wenjie Wu & Chenglei Zhang, 2022. "Housing prices and the subjective well-being of migrant workers: evidence from China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3363-3388, October.
    5. Janneke Pieters & Samantha Rawlings, 2020. "Parental unemployment and child health in China," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 207-237, March.
    6. Sun, Yu & You, Wen, 2018. "Health effects associated with marital status transition among elders in China," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274173, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Samantha B. Rawlings, 2015. "Parental education and child health: Evidence from an education reform in China," CINCH Working Paper Series 1511, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Aug 2015.
    8. Agadjanian, Victor & Hayford, Sarah R. & Jansen, Natalie A., 2021. "Men's migration and women's mortality in rural Mozambique," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    9. Lei, Lei & Desai, Sonalde, 2021. "Male out-migration and the health of left-behind wives in India: The roles of remittances, household responsibilities, and autonomy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    10. Qian Song, 2017. "Aging, and separation from children: The health implications of adult migration for elderly parents in rural China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(55), pages 1761-1792.
    11. Sun, Feinuo & Liang, Zai, 2021. "Parental migration and anemia status of children in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    12. Nan Sun & Fan Yang, 2024. "Effects and Mechanisms of Rural‒Urban Migration on Health in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(2), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Huifeng Shi & Chunxia Zhao & Yan Dou & Xiaoqian Duan & Lingyan Yang & Yufeng Du & Xiaona Huang & Xiaoli Wang & Jingxu Zhang, 2020. "How parental migration affects early social–emotional development of left-behind children in rural China: a structural equation modeling analysis," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(9), pages 1711-1721, December.
    14. Yanhua Wu & Lingyun Tong & Yingying Yi, 2024. "Does Having More Children Affect Women’s Informal Employment Choices? Evidence from China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 562-578, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Min Gao & Yanyu Li & Shengfa Zhang & Linni Gu & Jinsui Zhang & Zhuojun Li & Weijun Zhang & Donghua Tian, 2017. "Does an Empty Nest Affect Elders’ Health? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Mu, Ren & van de Walle, Dominique, 2011. "Left behind to farm? Women's labor re-allocation in rural China," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(S1), pages 83-97.
    3. Yang, Shuai & Wang, Yan & Lu, Yuan & Zhang, Hanhan & Wang, Feng & Liu, Zhijun, 2023. "Long-term effects of the left-behind experience on health and its mechanisms: Empirical evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    4. Hung-Lin Tao, 2019. "Marriage and Happiness: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1843-1861, August.
    5. Tang, Zequn & Wang, Ning, 2021. "School disruption of children in China: The influence of parents’ rural–urban migration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Schmeer, Kammi K., 2013. "Family structure and child anemia in Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 16-23.
    7. Jiaan Zhang & Liyun Wu, 2015. "Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Consumption among Chinese Older Adults: Do Living Arrangements Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, February.
    8. Yuying Tong & Weixiang Luo & Martin Piotrowski, 2015. "The Association Between Parental Migration and Childhood Illness in Rural China," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 561-586, December.
    9. Liu, Chang & Yi, Fujin & Xu, Zhigang & Tian, Xu, 2021. "Do living arrangements matter?—Evidence from eating behaviors of the elderly in rural China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    10. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Zhong Zhao, 2018. "The heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 155-192, January.
    11. Smeekens, Chantal & Stroebe, Margaret S. & Abakoumkin, Georgios, 2012. "The impact of migratory separation from parents on the health of adolescents in the Philippines," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2250-2257.
    12. Hui Wang & Kun Chen & Yifeng Pan & Fangyuan Jing & He Liu, 2013. "Associations and Impact Factors between Living Arrangements and Functional Disability among Older Chinese Adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, January.
    13. Feinian Chen & Kim Korinek, 2010. "Family life course transitions and rural Household economy during China’s market reform," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(4), pages 963-987, November.
    14. Yabiku, Scott T. & Agadjanian, Victor & Cau, Boaventura, 2012. "Labor migration and child mortality in Mozambique," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2530-2538.
    15. Hongliang Wang & Yiwen Yu, 2016. "Increasing health inequality in China: An empirical study with ordinal data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 14(1), pages 41-61, March.
    16. Zhen Li & Zai Liang, 2016. "Gender and job mobility among rural to urban temporary migrants in the Pearl River Delta in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(16), pages 3455-3471, December.
    17. Nikolova, Milena & Roman, Monica & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2017. "Left behind but doing good? Civic engagement in two post-socialist countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 658-684.
    18. G. Miller & Yuriy Pylypchuk, 2014. "Marital Status, Spousal Characteristics, and the Use of Preventive Care," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 323-338, September.
    19. Guven, Cahit & Senik, Claudia & Stichnoth, Holger, 2012. "You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 110-130.
    20. Maruyama, Shiko, 2015. "The effect of coresidence on parental health in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-22.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Health; Migration; Gender; China;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:52:y:2015:i:4:p:1321-1343. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.